Research

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Research Areas

Robotics

A robot is a machine that is capable of sensing and interacting with its environment and taking action on its own, autonomously. The day is soon coming where we will have robots integrated within our daily lives and throughout society: from our homes, to transportation, to healthcare, and beyond.

At Northwestern, we research and build a wide variety of robot systems, studying how robots interact with the ground and air, objects around them, humans who are their partners or who they are helping, and even how robots interact with each other. Robotics utilizes a broad range of disciplines within computer science and beyond, from mathematics to mechanics to biology. Especially important tools from computer science include artificial intelligence and sophisticated sensor processing (e.g. computer vision). We are working to create robots that can improve our world for the better: that assist humans with impairments, work together in large teams, move in challenging environments, dexterously manipulate objects and provide information to humans.